Urban Science

Client: Urban Science
Industry: Automotive
Services: Consultative Selling, Strategic Account Management, Coaching for Action & Accountability, Self-Study+

Background

Urban Science, a trusted advisor to the world’s top automotive brands, built its reputation on precision analytics and data-driven consulting. While their expertise helped clients navigate complexity with confidence, leadership saw an opportunity to strengthen their approach to their own growth, starting with sales.

“We’re trying to grow faster, as any successful company must,” said Tom Longo, EVP of the Americas, APAC, and Europe at Urban Science. “We’ve gone a long way without formal sales training. I watched our other departments go through structured development programs and thought, why not sales? We have smart, capable people who would benefit from a better process.”

Many team members brought strong engineering and scientific backgrounds, deep client knowledge, and credibility, but sales wasn’t always a taught skill. Without a shared methodology, there was a need for more consistency across teams.

“There was often not enough similarity in how our people sold,” Longo continued. “They aren’t salespeople by trade. They’re subject matter experts. If we could apply the same kind of rigor to sales as we do in other areas, we could empower our people to sell with more confidence and consistency. We needed a program.”

Longo enlisted Kevin Smith, regional managing director at Urban Science, and the human resources team to issue an RFP to find a partner that could help build a stronger, value-driven sales culture. After interviewing several companies, Longo agreed with his team that RAIN Group was an obvious choice. 

Solution

Urban Science launched a sales enablement initiative with RAIN Group in the U.S, starting with a two-day, in-person workshop delivered across three cities.

On Day 1, participants focused on consultative selling with modules covering value, building rapport, leading a thorough needs discovery, making the impact and ROI case, and inspiring action with the Buyer Change Blueprint (BCB).

Day 2 introduced strategic account management skills with modules covering growing strategic and key accounts, analyzing stakeholders and account decision-making, big plays, and driving maximum client business outcomes, thus account value, leading a Value Lab.

"The Value Labs are amazing,” Longo said. “I love the collaboration and ideas that come from different people and groups. We’ve made ‘Value Labbing’ a go-to within Urban Science."

Leadership also completed Coaching for Action & Accountability, learning a proven process to help teams build effective action plans, become highly focused, and execute at the highest level.

To bolster training, participants engaged in eight weeks of Application Coaching. In these sessions, coaches review the training module content and assignments with the group and facilitate discussions on best practices. RAIN Group led the first session and Urban Science’s leaders completed Train the Application Coach program to prepare them to lead the remaining sessions.

A surprising bonus: leaders honed their ability to articulate complex ideas quickly—often in five minutes—and clearly in front of engaged groups.

To further embed learning, participants used RAIN Mail, mobile and email reinforcement that presents sales scenarios with feedback.

Results

Urban Science has seen measurable and meaningful change.

• Revived and Won Deals: Teams used RAIN tools to win new business with a global automotive manufacturer, renewed contracts despite stiff competition with a leading mobility solutions provider and re-engaged past clients due to improved relationships and demonstrated value.
• Shifted Sales Mindset: Sellers moved from solution-first to value-first conversations. This has improved client satisfaction and led to more meaningful engagements with clients, who often express appreciation for the focus on their challenges and aspirations. It led to plenty of prospecting work with clients, and then frequently earned a “Yes, you got it!”
• Unified Sales Language: Tools like the Strategic Account Planner, Sales Conversation Planner, and BCB were embedded in the CRM, giving teams a consistent framework.
• Scaled Success Globally: After the U.S. rollout, the program expanded to LATAM and Europe, with a hybrid version for APAC.

“We’ve witnessed incremental to transformational gains,” said Longo. “This has been a wonderful improvement for how we engage clients and grow business.”

Smith added, “The RAIN methodology has improved collaboration and strategic alignment. We've empowered leaders to coach their teams and keep learning fresh.”

By integrating tools, aligning leaders, and embedding a consistent approach globally, Urban Science has made consultative selling a true competitive advantage.